“Giving this tea more props today. While it is pricey, it is delicious. It can take a beating and not get bitter, and it is very rich and cocoa with a hint of pepper underneath that. Could be my...”
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“Guuuuuuuuh!!! This is so amazing! How much is this? Is it a lot? I need to a buy a giant tin of this, and then another tin so the first tin can have a friend! Oh, it’s somewhat expensive…...”
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“This is really quite good. I had a couple cups yesterday and then the last of my bag today – one cup and one re-steep each time.
Delicious sweet potato notes – rich and sweet with a...”
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From DAVIDsTEA

How tea should taste
In Yunnan province in southern China, ancient tea trees still grow wild in the forests. They can be hundreds, even thousands, of years old. Purists rave about the rich brown colour of the steeped tea, the aroma of sweet forest floor, the clean, natural finish. Our wild black Yunnan uses small, new leaves plucked from wild-growing trees, tightly twisted to preserve their natural flavour.

70 Tasting Notes

Mmmm… Thanks again CrowKettle for getting me to try this tea! :O Now I know I love Yunnan teas. I even over-steeped this one and it was still great, albeit a bit malty. (Sidenote: albeit is a pretty sweet word eh? :P)

So this was a sipdown. I know I’ll need to replace it, but maybe not with this one. I have had better Yunnan’s, although not from companies that are as easy to buy from as DavidsTea. Yunnan reminds me of Zen’s Phoenix Pearls, which reminds me of Verdant’s Laoshan Black. Yunnan is the poor man’s Laoshan Black?

Oh – I’ve spent more time here than I have on facebook/twitter combined. I <3 Steepster!

Giving this tea more props today. While it is pricey, it is delicious. It can take a beating and not get bitter, and it is very rich and cocoa with a hint of pepper underneath that. Could be my favourite DT tea ever. MMM!

Guuuuuuuuh!!! This is so amazing! How much is this? Is it a lot? I need to a buy a giant tin of this, and then another tin so the first tin can have a friend! Oh, it’s somewhat expensive… Maybe just one tin, then.

After trying the Kenyan Tinderet tonight, I was wary of getting kicked in the butt by another straight black tea so I steeped it at exactly three minutes. I needn’t have worried, however, as this tea seems much more user friendly.

First impression: hot wet leaves smell even more horrifying than Tinderet or Nepal Black. They’re like dirt, and fallen leaves, and dampness, and strong beer, and (vegetarian) Fenrir’s breath, and… they’re immense! When they’ve cooled down the leaves have a decadently sweet aroma. Very Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde- or maybe I’m just crazy.

Second Impression: That is the most amazing creamy sweet finish in the entire solar system!!! The tea is jam-packed with floral honey awesomeness with a dash of something peppery. It also has a bit of that typical black earthy body but I’m too distracted by that end bit to really dissect what’s happening in the first part right now.

I know the list may be short but this has now become my top black tea. That it’s 3:40am right now may be the cause of this reaction but this may be one of the best things to happen to me, tea-wise.

I’m so very glad I ordered some more Yunnan from Verdant the other day. Since I don’t know my straights very well I just picked a bunch of things at random. If the Zhu Rong Yunnan Black, or even the Yunnan White Jasmine, are anything like this one it will be a very good time. I’ll likely be speechless.

Preparation

I had recently another tea a bit like that – I do not like the smell, oh no indeed, it was a mistake. But as soon as it got even the hint of water (the steam from the pot) it became magic! I usually decide to buy using my nose, and it was humbling that some of the best things I ever had I would not have bought if I had trusted only nose! I got to keep that in mind in the future.

It’s something I need to keep in mind too. I never would have bought this tea, and many others, based on aroma. The dry leaves smell like an average black tea and the hot damp ones are appalling!

I might be jumping to conclusions with this first impression of Yunnan, ever, but I think I’m in love. I don’t know if this particular Yunnan will be the one to have a final place in my cupboards but there will definitely always be some kind of Yunnan now.

It sounds like a winner! And you are so right about the scent. I am just having something which is oh so lovely (the white peony from peony Tea S) and where the dry leaf smells wonderfully and each steep is great – but oh my, some of the infusions did not smell nice while it was steeping, way too grassy or harsh. It did not pass to the liquor though! Magic. Tea is really not obvious.

I actually found this tea to be quite tasty! It seems I’m definitely developing a taste for straight black tea. This tasted very similar to other yunnan blacks I’ve tried, so it’s nothing I would necessarily go for specifically again, but it’s a perfectly tasty cup, again courtesy of Janelle :)

Preparation

Black Tea of the Day Continued. This is what I’ve been looking for. It has some of the characteristics of a black tea that I like. Cavocorax wrote in their tasting notes that this might be a poor man’s Laoshan Black. I totally agree with that. It’s obviously not of the same quality as Laoshan Black, but it’s in that family.
This is a decent tea, I could take this to work. I found that it didn’t really steep very well. The second steep was really weak and I didn’t even bother with a third. So all things considering, this doesn’t have the depth of flavor, and you don’t get as many cups out of the leave – this isn’t really that cheap.
The good news is, that I will be looking at other Yunnan Blacks from other sources. This has helped narrow the search. Tomorrow Assam…..

Sorry, I stole your line, but it was so fitting.
I think really that’s all this experiment is all about, I want to be able to say/know which types are my favorites. Will look for better quality once I’ve found those couple of types. Yunnan is one of them. :)) I hope Assam is the other, but will take some oolong with me to work just in case.

Finally, cup of black tea that fulfills my cravings. Dark cocoa. Hint of vanilla pastry aroma. Bit of malt. Roasted, but not too much. It tastes a bit untamed and unrefined. Just a bit of unpleasant harshness. But still, Yunnan black! Delicious Yunnan black. Just what I needed all weekend.

Okay, so I’m probably just making is sound really good because this is the closest I’ve come to a black tea tasting the way I want it to in a few days. It’s probably just above mediocre for a Yunnan black tea, at best. There are better ones out there. But I haven’t had any better ones lately, and that makes all the difference for excitement levels.
This reminds me of that time I went camping with my friends and we didn’t have anything resembling fresh veggies or fruits for daaaaays! On the way home, we stopped at a diner and that minuscule side of soggy from-the-freezer string beans was the best thing I had ever eaten. But I digress.

I knew this was going to be what I’ve been craving all weekend the moment I opened the bag. Roasted dark chocolate aromas wafted up to me. The brewed tea is a clear orangey black. Pretty and tasty.

Steep 2: Unfortuately, not chocolatey on the second steep. Just kind of generic now.

Sweet! Literally. I wish it had been tasty enough to keep my attentions long enough to finish it. But I will admit this would make a fabulous weekend tea (if only because of the sweetness)

I did not detect any other flavours, but I would not doubt that I either understeeped of the water was not hot enough – I was a little distracted this morning: “Are you kidding me?! A December Rain Storm in AUGUST!!?! WTF?!”

Thanks to Taite for allowing me to try this one. I made this up bolting out the door for another edition of morning news. Today it turns out I am the lone newscaster on the grassy knoll since I am the only newscaster in the building not sick. So I take my first sip. Mmmm this is tasty. A little malty and grainy. That flavor I’ve come to enjoy from Yunnan black that reminds or potatoes. More so like natural fair french fries. Maybe I’m wrong on this but it kinda seems like a Yunnan hybrid to me. The characteristics remind both of a Keemun and that of a Bai Lin Gonfu. I poured into my Gryffindor travel mug that reminds my of our family moon that we took to Florida. In lieu of a honeymoon my wife’s aunt gifted us a trip to Florida so my wife, daughter and I got to take a trip after we were married. So we got to go to Universal and take the kiddo to Disney. So I finished it half way through the drive to work and was wishing there was more. I’m glad there’s more at home….I’ll just have to brew and entire pot.